ANKARA, 28 December, 2020, (TON): Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar warned on Sunday that the forces of Khalifa Haftar and their supporters based in eastern Libya would be viewed as “legitimate targets” if they attempted to attack Turkish forces in the region.

“This war criminal, thug Haftar and his backers should know that in the event of any attack attempt waged on Turkish forces, the killer Haftar’s forces will be viewed as legitimate targets everywhere,” Akar said.

Speaking during a visit to Turkish troops in Tripoli, Akar said “they should get this in their heads. If they do something like this, they will have nowhere to run,” he said. “Everyone should contribute to reaching a political solution here. Any move other than this is wrong.”

He added that Haftar had recently started making calls targeting Turkish forces in Libya and calling for attacks on Turkish troops, and also called on all parties to support political talks instead.

Turkey is the main foreign backer of Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli, which for years has been fighting Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).

The Benghazi-based Libya National Army (LNA), a force of some twenty-five thousand fighters, is led by Khalifa Haftar. The LNA’s backers include Egypt, France, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Russia.

Haftar claimed military rule over eastern parts of the country in April 2020, though it has not materialized, and his campaign to take western Libya has essentially collapsed amid opposition from GNA forces.

In October, the GNA and LNA signed a ceasefire agreement and the United Nations has been pushing a political dialogue aimed at elections next year as a solution. Russia on Wednesday called for international efforts toward a peace settlement in Libya to be intensified.

WASHINGTON, 28 December 2020, (TON):  President Trump signed Sunday night the stimulus bill into law, releasing $900 billion in emergency relief funds into the economy and averting a Tuesday government shutdown.

As per the sources, President Trump earlier referred to as a “disgrace” but signed after pressure for the hidden elements controlling the stage. No explanation was offered by White House why  bill was signed without necessary changes.

Senate majority leader announced approximately $900 billion deal on emergency relief package. The White House also secured a ‘three martini lunch’ tax deduction in a draft of the relief package. Trump has long seized on the tax break as a way to revive the restaurant industry.

RIYADH, 28 December 2020, (TON): Saudi Aramco has discovered four new oil wells in al-Reesh oil field, northwest of Dhahran, and in al-Ajramiyah Well No. 1, northwest of the city of Rafhaa in the Northern Borders Province. Non-conventional gas has also been discovered in al-Sarrah reservoir at al-Minahhaz well, southwest of the Ghawar oil field, and at al-Sahbaa well, south of Ghawar.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud said on Sunday while confirming the discoveries said, Saudi Aramco continues to work on determining the size and volume of discovered fields. It is part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan.   

The discoveries about two oil and gas fields in the northern border region were announced in August this year. These facilities are controlled by Saudi Aramco, which is falls under Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and the Supreme Council for Petroleum and Minerals.  Saudi Aramco is mostly state-owned, but had an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of 1.5% of the company in December 2019. The IPO valued roughly $1.7 trillion, becoming Saudi Aramco IPO the world’s biggest share offering ever but it was limited to its own national companies.   

QUETTA, 27 December 2020, (TON): Six personnel Frontier Corps were killed when unidentified carried out firing at Paramilitary check post in district of Harnai on Sunday.

Police spokesperson Shahwali Tareen confiring the incident said that during the exchange of gunfire early Sunday morning, six paramilitary troops and two private guards were killed. He said six other personnel were critically wounded in the attack. Meanwhile, witnesses said that such attacks are frequently carried out by anti-Baloch elements to create hatred and military action against the Baloch elements who are already a marginalized faction in the Balochistan province.

Earlier, two days back a bomb exploded near a soccer field, killing two spectators and wounding another six in Panjgur district.  Such incident happened in the past too and allegations were always leveled of Baloch groups. Witnesses claimed that these attacks are sponsored from anti-Baloch elements across the border.

No group claimed responsibility for either attack.

DHAKA, 27 December 2020, (TON): Residents in 24 municipalities across Bangladesh will go to the polls using electronic voting machines (EVM) on Monday to cast their ballots in the first phase of the country's municipal elections amid coronavirus pandemic.

Residents of using electronic voting machines (EVM) will cast ballots using electronic voting machines (EVM) from 8 am to 4 pm. The main contesters are candidates from the ruling Awami League and the the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), however, candidates from Jatiya Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party will participate. Independent candidates are also taking part in the election.

Besides the judiciary, the elections will be monitored by law enforcement agencies including Police , Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and the Ansar Paramilitary Auxiliary Force.

More than 1,000 candidates are contesting for the posts of mayor and councillor in the first phase. In the second phase of voting candidates would compete on 16 January in 61 municipalities.

JAMMU, 27 December 2020, (TON):  The military authorities deployed in Poonch area said on Sunday that a joint search and cordon operation, involving Military Commandos, Special Operation Group (SOG), troops of Rashtriya Rifles (RR) Jammu and Kashmir Police was carried out which foiled a terrorist attempt that would have led to attack on Hindu Mandir. The military authorities claimed that they recovered a mobile phone from the possession of terrorist which contained videos regarding tactics of grenade lobbing etc.

Jammu Police said that military authorities handed over three militant and six grenades, which they claimed to have been recovered from their possession.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Poonch, Ramesh Angral gave a different version of a story and said that security forces set up a checkpoint in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday at Basooni and intercepted a vehicle in which Mustafa Khan, a resident of Galuta Harni, was travelling. He was in possession of six grenades so he was apprehended for questioning. Later, on his identification , two more militant namely Muhammad Yaseen, son of Walayat Khan and Rayees Ahmed, son of Muhammad Iqbal, both resident of Dabbi Balakote were arrested. According to Jammu Police, another militant Mustafa Khan’s house was raided and six grenades were recovered from his possession.

The SSP claimed that during investigation, they confessed that they were in regular contact with the handlers in Pakistan who were instructed them to carry out terror strikes.

In an official statement Police said, “It has also come to fore that the accused were planning to carry out strike at religious places in Poonch which was an attempt to trigger communal tension in the region. Some videos regarding tactics of grenade lobbing were also found in the mobile phones of accused.”  

In the recent weeks Indian security forces and the military have started fake operations in which self generated information is shared with media to result in media headlines against Kashmir movement and involvement of agents from across the border. The media is asking the Indian Army to present the militants before them but the authorities are reluctant.

DHAKA, 27 December 2020, (TON): Bangladesh has ranked among the top 20 countries in COVID Resilience Rankings published by the US news agency Bloomberg. It has made in the 1st place in the South Asia region.

The Bloomberg ranking has considered 10 social and economic key indicators including increases in the number of COVID-19 cases, overall mortality rate. testing capability, the capacity of local healthcare systems, the impact of virus-related restrictions on the economy, and freedom of movement.

New Zealand is at the top with a score of 85.6 and Taiwan, Australia, Norway, Singapore were the top 5 in the rankings out of 53 countries. The low-rankings nations were Peru Argentina and Mexico.

Bangladesh is in the 20th position with a score of 59.2 which is equal to Germany in the 21st position. Also, Bangladesh tops the list in terms of GDP growth.

There are indicators where Bangladesh has positive results such as a mortality rate of 1.6%, 44 deaths per million, and a test positivity rate of 10.2% in the last month. But the lower side was in the terms of access to vaccines.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, Bangladesh has performed excellently with the management of the overall situation. The government lock downed around the country and finally, it reopened all government office except the educational institutions.

The Bangladesh government also provided loans for the micro-entrepreneurs which has revived the economy further and it has contributed to improving the GDP growth in the mid of the pandemic.

India and Bangladesh are also cooperating on the COVID vaccine. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the near past that New Delhi will pay special attention to Bangladesh’s immunization requirements. In this regard, Bangladesh’s Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited signed an agreement with Serum Institute of India Private in November for 30 million vaccine doses. However, COVID vaccine by India is not tested one and is in trial stage.

NEW DELHI, 27 December 2020, (TON): The disappearance of Rahul Gandhi since last two days has created many doubts.  Randeep Surjewala , chief spokesperson of the Congress party said in a statement, “left for abroad on Sunday for a short personal visit”. He added that Rahul Gandhi will be away for a few days. However, same could not be confirmed from other sources.

Rahul Gandhi’s absence has been felt due to the fact that Congress's 136th Foundation Day celebrations falls on Monday. The flag of the party will be hoisted at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters on the occasion but he is likely to be absent.

There are speculations that Rahul Gandhi is hiding himself, has flown to Italy or bedridden due to COVID but Indian media is speculating that Rahul Gandhi left for Milan in Italy on a Qatar Airways flight this Sunday to see his grandmother who lives in Italy. However, there are serious doubts as Rahul Gandhi had to abide by COVID regulations for his Milan vacation. There are also reports that he had to face humiliations from the farmers for misleading them that is why he preferred to stay aloof.

ISLAMABAD, 27 December 2020, (TON):  A military helicopter of Pakistani Army Aviation crashed Saturday in the Minimarg area of Pakistan's Gilgit Baltistan (GB) region, leaving four personnel killed including two pilots and two soldiers. It has been claimed that the helicopter was evacuating the body of martyred soldier Sepoy Qadeer to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Skardu when the incident occurred. However, same could not be confirmed from other sources.

Those who lost thie lives included Major Pilot M. Hussain, Co-Pilot Major Ayaz Hussain, Naik Inzimam Alam and Sepoy Muhammad Farooq

Later, Army team arrived at the crash site and evacuated all the four dead bodies from the wreckage site to Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations confirmed the incident.  Later, the dead bodies were dispatched to their native villages.

RIYADH, 27 December 2020, (TON): The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia announced holding of 41^st Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Riyadh on 5 January 2020. A formal request has been forwarded to the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf to invite the leaders of the member states. The sources in Riyadh said that the GCC leaders, comprising of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar will attend the summit that will not be held virtually

“I had the honor today to personally deliver King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s invitation to the President of the United Arab Emirates H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to attend the 41st GCC Summit taking place in Riyadh on 5 January 2021. The invitation was received by the Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum today in Dubai, to discuss coordination, integration, and interconnection between the member States and their citizens in economic development, commerce, education, and culture”, Secretary General Dr. Nayef Falah al-Hajraf said in the statement.

The agenda of summit will include disputes including Qatar’s isolation, Yemen’s Houthis, situation arising from COVID-19 and negative propaganda by Israel to misguide Islamic world. Saudi Arabia has already clarified and warned that it has not recognized Tel Aviv.